Rabbit on a chair 1944 Lucian Freud: for my momma

"Self-Portrait: Reflection" (2002) “The achievement of the strenuously lionized British realist painter Lucian Freud,” writes Roberta Smith, “has not so much been to break new ground as to dig incessantly deeper into the old. By doing so he has intensified our understanding of figurative painting’s familiar landmarks to the point of discomfort.” Mr. Freud’s work is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Museum of Modern Art

Young Lucian Freud, Photo by Clifford Coffin for British Vogue, 1947

Lucian Freud, self portrait (1947)

"I want paint to work as flesh, I know my idea of portraiture came from dissatisfaction with portraits that resembled people. I would wish my portraits to be of the people, not like them. Not having to look at the sitter, being them. As far as I am concerned, the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as the flesh does." Lucien Freud